Say NO to Nomophobia: AWAKE Nomophobes!

Do you know the feeling when you left your phone somewhere and feel anxious, as if you have lost your connection to the world?

If yes, you might have "Nomophobia"

Nomophobia is a newly introduced term, an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone phobia”. It is the irrational fear of being without your mobile phone or being unable to use it for some reason such as, the absence of signal, running out of battery power or losing sight of your phone.The term was created by YouGov, a research organization based in the United Kingdom. According to YouGov’s study, 58% of men and 47% of women suffer from “nomophobia”. The person having this mental illness is called a Nomophobe.

Nowadays, smartphones have increasingly become the tool we use to organize our daily lives, from communicating instantly with others, checking the time, taking good photos, up to helping us with so many questions running in our minds through the internet. Our dependence on devices are clearly increasing, which results to psychological consequences. Many people have developed a psychological attachment to their smartphones and psychologists say that it is affecting more and more young people.

Those people who lack self control and disciplince, easily bored or impatient, have no other recreational hobbies or outlets, and have had a negative experience upon being left without a cell phone commonly suffer nomophobia. Below are some symptoms when you fear being without a mobile device:

elevated heart rate

trembling

sweaty palms

shallow breathing

keeps checking the device every now and then

panic attack when separated from their phones

experiences phantom vibrations, a false belief that your phone is ringing even though it has not

anxiety

Most phone addicts forget how living the real world is, thus, limit the amount of face-to-face interactions with other people because they are more focused looking at their phones. Thereby, interfering significantly with an individual's social and family interactions. They see the world through their phones and interact less. At some point, the uses of mobile technology become more distraction and less presence.

If this petition wins, the increasing rate of Nomophobian cases will most likely to avert. If not, the epidemic remains uncontrolled, affecting more and more generations.

Hand in hand, we must take a step to engage ourselves with face-to-face interaction rather than virtual communication. We all can make the change by starting in ourselves. It has to start with you. Live your life, don't waste time.